Trust and Deceit
by OstarryeyesO
Summary: Repost! Barricade never made the final battle. His absence was neither noticed nor caused concern for either side. However, in the clutches of a mad scientist with high ambitions, Barricades fate will decide the fate of his entire race. Will they survive?
1. Captivity

Ello! Wow my first Transformers fic. The idea came to me while watching the Transformers movie. I really should be studying, but the bunnies won't leave me alone. I want to apologize ahead of time with the terminology, I'm not exactly sure what to call the different body parts of the transformers. If I don't say something right, please tell me. Also forgive me if any of the characters seem OOC.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any related characters. I'm just holding them against their will...

**Captivity**

Pain. Horrible aching pain. Why? He came online slowly. He tried to online his optics. They flickered on weakly and he took in his surroundings, or at least he tried. He could only move his head about forty five degrees to the right or left. His body, on the other hand, was completely immobile. The only thing he could see was the ceiling looming above him.

His CPU buzzed with questions. Where was he, and how did he get here? He...he was Barricade, a Decepticon. He had come to the planet Earth looking for his leader Megatron. He had tracked down the Homo Sapien... Ladiesman27? Yes, he had almost had him until that sparkling of a Autobot had come.

He suddenly felt much more awake. That autoscum, Bummblingbug or something, had beat the slag out of him. How the frag had that happened? Barricade let out a deep growl. If the other Decepticons heard about this he would never live it down. He once again attempted to shift his body. What was going on here? Was he now a prisoner? He felt a cold shiver at the thought. That was always his worse fear, to be at the complete mercy of the enemy unable to defend himself as they tortured him.

He narrowed his optics, and struggled against his bonds with renewed fervor. If the Autobots expected to keep him here docilely, they were gravely mistaken. He had to get free somehow. He gave another vicious yank and nearly howled when the bonds did not give. He continued his struggling for a while before he slumped against the table he was tied to.

Well, he wasn't going to force his way out. He stared at the ceiling, trying to occupy his CPU and trying not to think of the future that awaited him. The 'bots had not offlined him, so they obviously wanted something. Maybe information? Well, they could get slagged. Barricade had done many horrible things in his life, but he would never tell any Autobots the Decepticon's plans, more out of pride then loyalty.

The question was how far would the 'bots go for the information. Barricade had no doubt that they would resort to torture. Even if it went against everything they believed in, this was a war. To let some vital information slip out of their hands because of some moral issues would be idiotic.

Eventually, after either they got the information or they were sick of Barricade, himself, they would most likely terminate him. He would just have to find some way to escape before that happened, and he would. He might not be the smartest mech around, but he did know how to use situations to his advantages. Manipulation was one of the many reasons he had survived this long in the war. The enemy would make a mistake, and Barricade would be free. All he had to do was wait.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he hear the sound of a door squeak open. He went completely still and offlined his optics. No need for his captors to know that he was awake. Low voices floated to his audio receptors.

"I don't know. It just seems wrong." the first voice stated.

"Wrong! You mean these thing came and destroyed a whole city and almost destroyed the entire world and you're feeling sorry for it!" the second voice nearly yelled.

"No it's not that, it's just what happens if the Autobots things find out we're keeping one of their own kind down here?"

So the Autobots did not know he was here. Barricade felt his systems relax just a little. But if it was not the 'bots, then it would have to be the fleshbags that were keeping him here. He felt a wave of anger come over him. How dare those insects think to tie him up! Images of what he would do to the impudent squishies floated across his CPU, but he put them away for later and focused instead on the conversation.

"They are not going to find out, not even Keller knows that this place exists. Besides," the human sounded as though he were laughing, "this one is one of those Decepticons. The Autobots would probably blow his head off if we turned him over to them. Which we'll probably do, after we preform some tests."

Barricade felt his anger multiply. He was no one's test drone, let alone some pathetic humans!

"Yeah, but this thing really creeps me out. Why can't we just ask that Autobots if we could test them?"

Barricade held in a chuckle, when he was done this human would know the true meaning of fear.

The second voice might have replied, but a third voice suddenly floated from the other side of the room. "The test we wish to perform are of a less then savory nature. I doubt the Autobots would appreciate them, no matter how willing they are to help."

The voice sounded cold and cruel, almost worthy of a Decepticon, Barricade mused for a moment. He heard soft, resounding footsteps that he could only guess belonged to the third man. The other two had fallen completely silent. Obviously the man held some kind of authority.

"But enough discussion. I did not hire you to question the situation. If you feel you cannot perform the job, I suggest you leave now. If you chose to stay, then we are commencing with the tests now."

There was more footsteps and the hum of a machine warming up, but no door. The human must have decided to stay. Suddenly, Barricade heard the creaking of metal above him. He online his optics to see a metal claw descending towards him. He growled and once again tested his bonds.

"Oh good, your awake. I was worried for a while that you were about to die on us, and frankly that would have been a bit of an inconvienence. But how rude of me, I am Steven Haddix the head scientist of this fine facility. What is you name?" The human stared at him expectantly.

"You will release me now, human."

"Now, now, that is not a very proper attitude to have. We will be spending a lot of time together, my friend, and it would be much better on your part if our relationship was pleasant."

Barricade scoffed. This human must have some kind of malfunction. "You will release me or suffer the consequences," he commanded in a menacing tone of finality.

The human did not react the that way Barricade hoped. Instead, he sighed and said in a mock disappointed voice, "Very well, have it you way, but do not say I did not warn you."

The metal claw above him had reached his mouth. He glared at it darkly. Humans and their pathetic excuse for technology. He was so busy staring at the claw, that he failed to notice two more that lowered to each side of his head. They each pried his mouth open. He tried to shut it, suddenly a little more wary, but the machines refused to let him close it.

The claw opened and revealed a wire that started to extend. It entered his mouth and wiggled its way deeper into him. He struggled helplessly against his bonds. How could the humans have something that could hold him? His wariness grew to full-blown panic as he felt the wire wiggle its way through his systems. The intrusion was extremely uncofortable. Barricade was not even willing to let a medic have this kind of access to his systems. What was this device doing to him? He felt it sliver around inside him occasionally poking at something, but then continuing. It tickled slightly, but nothing more. As more time passed, Barricade began to relax as the device seemed only able to feel its way through his systems. Barricade would have snorted if he could. Was this the best the humans could manage?

Suddenly the wire stopped and continued to prob something inside of him. What it was, he was not sure, maybe his hologram projector? It was difficult to tell by the phantom touches of the wire. Barricade was brutely ripped from his wonderings as the wire suddenly plunged into the system making Barricade grunted in surprise. That was not pleasant. Suddenly, an electronic pulse traveled down the wire and sent a shock threw him.

Barricade gasped and arched. The pain was immense. What the slag were those fleshbags doing to him? The pain was constant and slowly building. Barricade suddenly heard a loud scream. He had just enough time to recognize it as his own before he slipped into stasis.

Aww... poor Barry. I'm an evil person. Maybe things will look up for him in the next chapter (or not). Please R&R and tell me what you think.


	2. Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Questions<strong>

Haddix's increasingly familiar voice floated across Barricade's CPU, but he was unable to process what was being said. The only coherent thought he could manage was the thought of what he would do to this insolent human once he got free. He struggled against his bonds to make his imaginings a reality, but got the same result as always.

Instead, he concentrated on forcing the agony in the back of his CPU so he could formulate some plan. He managed to get enough control to started analyzing his surroundings. Suddenly, agony increased tenfold, making his logic circuits freeze making him unable to remember his own name. His ventilation system was working nosily in an attempt to cool him down. This had to end soon. Surely, the torment could not get any worse. A raw scream was forced out of his throat as the pain indeed started to increase steadily.

He would do anything to stop the pain, anything. He was even starting to think that he would prefer the Autobots to come and find him, at least death would be preferable to this torture. As if hearing his unspoken wish, the pain suddenly vanished as quickly as it appeared. He mentally sighed in relief. Haddix had gotten what he wanted today, now Barricade had until the next day to recover.

He laid completely limp on the table trying desperately to collect his thoughts. He had recovered enough to notice that instead of the wire retracting like he had been expecting, it shifted inside of him. He started to wonder what was happening when Haddix stated in a sadistically gleeful voice, "Let us see how your voice box works, shall we?"

Barricade opened his mouth to use some choice words to show the insect exactly how it worked, but was forced to clamp his mouth shut to preserve his dignity as the unyielding pain once again started.

_What the pit do these humans want?_

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime sat at his desk at the Autobots new base and gazed at the reports in front of him. He had believed that after Megatron's death, the war would end on its own. He had been gravely mistaken.<p>

The reports he was reading were from his second in command, Prowl. Evidently Starscream had been busy since his cowardly retreat after the battle at Mission City. He had gained the support of some of his fellow seekers and was now battling with Shockwave for complete control over the Decepticons.

Optimus sighed and rubbed his face. He half-way hoped that the fools would kill each other in their petty squabbles. He knew it was hardly a proper way for a Autobot to think, especially since he was the commander, but he was so tired of fighting. He did not see the point any more.

The allspark and Cybertron were no more, so what could Starscream possibly hope to gain by fighting? Optimus had spent the last couple of joors contemplating that very question and all it has got him was an aching CPU. Besides, he had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.

Of the seven Decepticons that had arrived on Earth, only six were accounted for. Starscream was off somewhere in the galaxy plotting. Megatron, Bonecrusher, Blackout, and Frenzy were at the bottom of the ocean. The humans had even located Scorponok who was now in a detainment building. But nothing had been heard from Barricade since Sam's encounter with the police car.

The lack of information, good or bad, worried Optimus. Barricade could be quite clever when he wished. The best case was that the Decepticon had decided to give up the war. But that was too much to hope for. More likely the transformer was dead. Still, that thought made Optimus's spark ache with sadness. Their race was slowly dwindling, and without the allspark, there might not be any more transformers created.

The Autobots have been keeping a sharp eye out for the Decepticon. Would they be able to find him before he did any damage to this planet? And if they caught him, was there a chance they could convince him to live in peace?

Optimus growled and shook his head. Lately there had been too many questions. Could they ever end this pointless war? Would the deaths would stop? Would they be able continue that rest of their lives in peace? He was sick of that too. He wanted to be sure of the things. He felt like fate was forcing their race to kill each other off foolishly.

Unable to stand his melancholy thoughts any longer, Optimus stood and walked out of his office. He walked to the rec room intending to spend some leisure time with his subordinates. Maybe tomorrow would bring the answers to all his questions.

* * *

><p>Poor Optimus, the guy never gets a break. Sorry it's so short guys, but I'm already working on the next chapter. Please R&amp;R.<p> 


	3. Curiosity

I do not own the Transformers or any relating characters.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Curiosity<strong>

Barricade onlined to see the same dark prison that he had been stuck in for what seemed like an eternity now. His internal chronometer was malfunctioning, and he had no view of the sky, so it could have very well have been days, weeks, or even months. What he did know was that he was slagged. Whatever the humans were trying to do, they obviously had no qualms about damaging him.

Several warning signs were flashing in front of his optics. He adamantly ignored them. They had been going off for ages now. If he were sane, he would be in recharge right now to try and regain his strength, but his paranoia prevented him from doing that. Once he been in peaceful recharge only to be viciously awakened by one of his sessions. If they were going to preform their tests, he wanted to be awake.

He shifted to find a more comfortable place, but immediately regretted it. The moan the pain invoked raised within him, but did not sound. His vocal processor had been badly damaged during one of first "tests." He could not even manage a squeak in his condition. Not that he really mind. The way he saw it, it saved him humiliation. The fact that a fleshy could make him scream was bad enough but he did not think that his pride would survived if he lowered himself to begging. His pride was the only thing that was keeping his mind in tact. He would not let these insects break him. He would survive this and live to exact his revenge.

He turned his optics off and leaned back trying to relax. No need to cause unneeded pain during one of the rare times the humans had decided to leave him alone. He had already wasted much of this time trying to find a way out. He had struggled for the first few days against the metal clamps that held him to the table.

On the second day, it seemed like he would actually manage it. The clamps had squeaked in protest and started to bend after he had used all his strength against them. Just before they broke, however, a high-pitched alarm rang through the building and the two scientists from before rushed in and shocked him into stasis. When he had finally came online again, he strapped down by even a stronger alloy. Not that it was necessary. With every "session," Barricade grew weaker and weaker. Haddix did not seem too concerned about losing his prize.

Barricade's mouth formed into a snarl as he thought of that name. The filthy human that had the audacity to cage him. If he ever got free, he would teach that squishy to recognize his betters, slowly. The human would learn why the Decepticons were feared throughout the galaxy.

His snarl turned into a frown as he realized his thoughts. If he got free..._if_. Barricade felt disgust rise from his spark. Such thoughts were for weaklings. Lapses like that were happening more and more often. He had to keep correcting himself. He would be free, and he would get his revenge. He was Barricade, fearsome Decepticon warrior. He was going to find an escape, there was always a way out, _always._ Just because he had not thought of one yet did not mean that he would give up.

Refusing to recognize the doubt of escape that had been slowly growing in his spark in the last couple of pain-filled days, Barricade's thoughts once again turned. What had happened after he was slagged by that Autobrat? Had the Decepticon's found their lost leader, or the Allspark? Surely Starscream had managed to overcome the five puny Autobots. However, if that were the case, why was he still trapped in here?

Not that his colleges would rescue him out of compassion or friendship. Barricade was not a fool. Such sentiments were an Autobots mind set. But if any of his fellow Decepticons were still on Earth, they would see how dangerous it was to leave Barricade here. He knew top secrets of the Decepticons such as battle plans and training camps. Also if the humans studied him, they might possibly be able to find an efficient weapon against them. Unlikely, but the slight chance should be enough for some semblance of a rescue.

The humans could not possibly be so powerful to stop the Decepticons attempts. They had to capture him while he was injured. Could it be that the Decepticons had failed in their quest? Had they fled Earth looking for another means to complete their conquest?

Barricade wiped those thoughts from his mind. That was impossible! No beings could defeat the Decepticons, especially ones such as the primitive beings that infested this planet, even with Autobot help.

However that left him at square one. Alone and without knowledge of whether or not he is the last of the Decepticons or even the last of his species on Earth. That thought sent a chill down Barricade's system. If he got out of here, would be the last of his kind? Would he be doomed to roam this Primus forsaken land for the rest of his existence? Would he ever find out?

Barricade's frowned deepened. That possibility was seeming less and less likely by the day. What was it that this human wanted? Revenge? Power? Knowledge? Whatever it was, it did not concern Barricade much. What did concern him was what was going to happen to him. Did the humans plan to perform tests on him until deactivation, or would they throw his tortured carcass at the dump when they were through with him? Honestly, he did not know which was the better choice.

Barricade growled and once again wiped his CPU clean of those thoughts. Not only were they weak, but useless as well. What he should be doing is figuring out a way out of here. It was plainly obvious that he could not force his way, but there were other ways. He just needed to outthink these humans. Not such a hard feat. All he had to do was wait for the perfect moment.

A loud buzzing sound filled his audios. He futilely turned his head looking for the noise. The noise slowly increased to nearly unbearable levels. Was this another type of torture? No it was coming from his CPU, he realized. An alert swamped his vision, warning him that in 10 seconds he would go into emergency stasis.

Well that was not good... He must be more damaged than he first thought. He shut down hoping that his opportunity would present itself soon.

* * *

><p>Amy Bollard sat at her desk drumming her fingers in boredom. She let out a loud breath and pulled her black hair out of her green eyes. It was currently three o'clock in the morning and she was the only one in the dark, depressing warehouse other than a handful of bodyguards.<p>

A little over a month ago, she would have been in her apartment, maybe hanging out with her best friend, Jen. Then a little thing called rent forced her to go get a job. It was surprisingly hard for a grad-student to find a suitable job that had some dignity. That was why when she had gotten the interview for this job, she had been ecstatic.

A top-secret job for the government concerning technology that should not exist. What science geek would not start drooling at the opportunity? The fact that it was in the middle of nowhere in an abandoned warehouse made it even more compelling. Of course, she had something a little more glamorous than babysitting in mind at the time.

She frowned. The fact that she did not even know what she was babysitting annoyed her. She was under strict orders not to go near the room where the experiments were contained. She was to just sit out here in her nice chair and report anything strange that happened.

She did not even know what "strange things" she was looking for. This was supposed to be a top-secret place. What could possibly happen that a skinny woman could do about?

Amy tapped her pencil thoughtfully. Come to think of it, she had been hearing strange things lately. Not anything the boss, Haddix or something, would be interested in though. Some of the scientists that worked in the main room would say some strange things concerning the project.

She would only catch part of the conversations. Phrases like "fusion cannons" and "ion rifle" stuck out. She knew that they were supposedly working on advance technology, but those things were stuff out of science fiction, right?

She spun her chair around and tried to clear her head. Her curiosity had been what made her such a good student, but it also got her into a lot of trouble. No need to go do something stupid that would get her fired.

She gave her chair another vicious spin and tilted her head back. Night shift was sooo boring! Her chair slowed down and creaked to a stop with her facing the door to the main room. She stared at it for a while. Could there really be mind-blowing technology behind that door?

She looked around the room again and saw that she was still alone. She stood and cautiously made her way to the door. She could just slip in and take a peek to satisfy her curiosity. No one would know and she could get on with her boring night.

Double-checking for any guard, Amy slowly turned the knob to the door. She felt a thrill of apprehension was the door creaked open.


	4. Surprise

I own nothing...

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Surprise!<strong>

Amy winced as the door creaked open loudly. Making sure that she was still going unnoticed, she slipped inside the dark room. Once the door was safely shut, she flicked on the lights and turned to finally cure her curiosity. Her eyes widened at the sight.

She had known that what the scientists had been working on was supposed to be revolutionary, but this was unbelievable. The scene before her was something straight out of Star Track. Giant machines were scattered around the room, humming loudly. Tables were filled with test tubes and microscopes. One table in particular had strange machines that vaguely resembled guns scattered about.

A huge smile worked its way on her face. She had always loved the potential of science. While her sisters were learning to apply makeup or playing with their dolls, she was off with her nose in a book. Anything from time travel to space. The only thing this place was missing was the scary alien that the scientists were dissecting.

Completely forgetting that she was in no way supposed to be here, Amy went to explore the table with the strange gun-like objects. She picked up the smallest on the table. It was about the length of the tip of her fingers to her elbow. It had a slender tube that came to a point at the end. On the other end was some kind of control panel.

She studied the panel. Despite the complicated look of the gun, the controls look simple. There were three different buttons; a red, a green, and a purple. Her child-like curiosity once again won out against her better judgment and she slowly depressed the green button. She held her breath as she felt the gun hum to life in her hands. What could it possibly be? A laser? Or maybe a freeze-ray of some sort? Amy's excitement rose as she felt the slender tube heat up slightly in her hand.

Nothing happened.

Amy frowned in disappointment. She threw the strange machine back on the table with a loud bang. Suddenly a bright pink light flew from the tube and shot towards the other side of the room. There was a deafening explosion that sent Amy down on her stomach with her hands covering her head.

Amy looked at the now unrecognizable computer with wide eyes. She was sooo fired. There was no way that the security did not hear that and was now on his way to the room. Once he found Amy here, she would be gone before she could say aloha.

If she could make it back to the door, then maybe she could sit in her chair and act like she did not know anything. Honest, no, but she really needed this job. She made her way towards the door, but she had debated too long. The creaking echo of the door opening filled the room followed by two voices talking hurriedly.

Amy cursed her luck. She could recognize those voices anywhere. They belonged to the top scientists, Max Franklin, and Mr. Haddix. The stupid security guard had called the head honcho himself. She looked around desperately for another way out. She spotted a small door to her left. As quietly as she could, she opened it and ran inside.

On the other side as a gigantic room that was bare except for a huge table low to the ground in the middle and some strange devices that ran from the ceiling. On the wall opposite of her, there was a large viewing window, but there was no way out. Amy's frantic mind raced for a solution. Haddix was known for being cruel and unreasonable. Not two days ago, he had fired a bumbling intern for spilling coffee on his new suit. If he discovered her here, he would fire her without question and probably make sure she would never get a decent, if any, job as a scientist again.

Outside the door, the footsteps were getting steadily louder. In a last endeavor to salvage her job, Amy sprinted to the table in the middle of the room and hid between some machinery. The plan was to hide here until the scientist and the boss man decided it must have been a glitch in the wiring of the gun and went on their merry way. Then Amy would leave and never ever listen to her inner child again.

Sliding lower into her hiding spot, Amy sat in the darkness and waited.

* * *

><p>Steven Haddix ran as fast as he could towards the main lab. Behind him, he could hear Max stumbling after him. He let out a silent growl. The man was incompetent, lazy, and downright annoying, but he had money, without which this project would not exist. Still there were times when Steven wished he could strangle the man.<p>

But back to more important matters, like what the hell was happening in the lab. He hoped that the alien had not managed to break the bonds again. It had been pure luck the first time that the team of scientists had managed to sedate the monster and fix the problem. Huge complications would occur if the beast had somehow managed to break the new ones. The particular alloy needed for them was very expensive.

The images of just what would happen if the alien broke free made Steven sprinted the last few yards to the door. He hurriedly stepped through the door. He glanced around the main room. All seemed quiet, expect for Max's heavy breathing behind him. Nodding in satisfaction, he traveled to his main concern.

He flung open the door to the observation room expecting to find trashed machinery and murderous red eye glowing down at him. To his relief, the room look as in order as the other did. Relaxing from his scare, he promised himself that he would have a talk with security. The old coot was probably just jumping at his own shadows.

His mind finally at ease, Steven decided to take a moment to once again admire his accomplishment. Before him on the table was the alien who must be at least 16 feet tall. This alien robot had such advance technology that in just a month of studying it, Steven had made more advance in his work than he had in the nearly two decades that he had spent on the Iceman project.

Not that the Iceman had not been useful, the government refuse to allow him to perform his own studies on the creature. They had said that it would have been too risky. All those fools had believed that Iceman was the only one of his kind that the human race would ever see. Steven, on the other hand, knew better.

He had kept his eyes and ears open to any strange activity, determined to find another one of these advanced beings and prove to those washouts exactly what they had missed out on. Unfortunately, that had proved to be a tedious task. He had had to spend most of his life savings plus inheritance to hire people and buy equipment for that kind of job.

Eventually it paid off. He had gotten a tip from one of his men about a giant robot laying on the ground that had nearly scared some homeless guy to death. With some quick maneuvering and silencing of the homeless man, Steven had his very own Iceman to treat as he saw fit. The thing had been in pitiful condition when Steven had first looked at it. For a while, Steven had thought that it would not survive. No one knew what had happened for it to gain so much damage, but all on the project had thought that it would not live past a week.

Then a surprising thing happened. The robot had begun to get better. The only explanation that Steven could come up with is that the thing had some kind of self-repair system. Then came the hard part, waiting. Steven had had to wait for the thing to wake before he could be sure it was healthy enough for the tests to begin. It had been the longest two weeks of his life.

When the thing had finally opened its strange eyes, Steven could barely contain his excitement. His first and only talk with it had been interesting. The thing had an ego to rival King Louis himself. Steven had taken great pleasure in humbling the thing. Maybe more then he should have, but it was all in the name of science, right? Soon he would be recognizing for the genius he was instead of an incompetent twit.

"Magnificent, isn't he Dr. Haddix."

Speaking of twits... Steven threw Max a look of contempt but quickly covered it with a small smile that to anyone else would have been insulting. "Indeed. The key to the future."

Max's eyes were twinkling with the excitement that one only finds in a scientists new to the field who had not yet realized the harshness of the world. "Imagine the possibilities. We could solve the world's energy crisis or even explore deep space." His voice, filled with awe and amazement, nearly made Steven sick.

Steven mentally shook his head. Max's sight was so limited. The real potential in this technology was to be found in the development of weapons. Countries all around to world would pay millions for the weapons that Steven would soon produce. Not that he was going to tell Max that. He would allow the man to keep his delusions as long as necessary.

Max was now studying the alien curiously. "He seemed weak during the last session. Do you think that we should stall for a few weeks to allow him to recover?"

Steven would have rolled his eyes if it would not have ruined his composure. "No, it will be fine," he stated simply, hoping that Max would drop it. Another thing he hated about Max, he was too emotional. He always refer to the alien as 'he.' Steven just chalked it up to another one of the young man's foolish traits.

Max looked at him with wide eyes. "He is very resistant, but I don't think that he will be able to take much more. He might die."

Steven let out a cold laugh. "My dear boy, whatever did you think would happen to it? This monstrosity is much too dangerous for us to allow out in the real world. Whether he dies now or later, it really does not make much difference. What does matter is that we make our deadline, so we continue as planned."

Max looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. With one last look at the alien, he turned and walked out the door. Steven lingered for another few minutes, again lost in his fantasies of money and power. He drifted out of the room, too busy with his daydream to notice the computer that was destroyed.

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><p>Amy sat in her hiding place long after she heard the door close. Aliens? Experimentation? What the heck was going on in this place! It was supposed to be a weapon production warehouse, not a lab out of some sci-fi movie. Amy noticed that her hands were trembling and took a deep breath. Nothing bad had happened. She had not been caught, so now all she had to do was walk out the door and forget that any of this had happened.<p>

Cautiously, Amy came out from behind the machines that had shielded her. She immediately ran toward the door. She was lucky to out of this with her job intact. However, just as her hand touched the door knob she frozen. There was that demandable voice popping into her head again. When would she ever get the chance to see a real live alien again? Surely it would not hurt to look around just a little? She would not touch anything else, just catch a look at the creature and then go back to her little desk, no harm done.

She shook herself and firmly squished that voice, it had gotten her in enough trouble for one day, and she would not allow the temptation to get her killed, or worse, fired. Setting her shoulders, she walked out of the door, deliberately not glancing back to the dark room.


	5. Answers

First of all, I would like to apologize for the long delay between the last chapter and this one. I really hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you think.

Solar Cycle is approx. 1 day

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><p>Chapter 5: Answers<p>

Sitting at her little desk outside the lab, Amy tried very hard to get her mind focused on work. It had been two weeks since Amy had snuck into the laboratory, and she had not given a second thought to the strange night. At least that is what she kept trying to convince herself. In reality she was about to go insane with curiosity. Questions constantly rushed through her head. Was there really an alien in the room? What kind was it?

She absentmindedly scribbled on a piece of paper as she pondered over the mystery. She had always believed that the completely alien myth was just that, a myth. Really, even if there were aliens, why would they want to come to Earth? Any race that could manage space travel to other galaxies would hardly be impressed by this world's technology.

Amy sighed. For all she knew she could have misunderstood the two scientists in her panic. Her mind had always been prone to flights of wonder; maybe she had just imagined the talk of experiments. Tapping her pencil against the desk, she tried to convince herself that is what happened. Yes, that was what happened, case closed; now back to work before she was fired for daydreaming on the job.

She turned to her computer to start typing her daily report of all the happenings of her designated hall, something she dreaded every shift. Nothing ever happened here, with the expectation of a few scientists coming in and out of the lab. Still, Haddix insisted a detailed report at the end of her night shift. The only excitement that had happened to her on the job was the one thing she had left out of her reports, her adventure in the lab two weeks ago. Not that she was going to repeat that fiasco. Last time she had been lucky that Haddix had chalked up the damaged computer to some kind of malfunction. Of course, it would be nice to have some concrete answers.

Damn it! ~_Snap~ _Amy looked down at the pencil she had just broken. Sighing she threw it on the desk and cradled her head in her hands. If only she had taken the moment to look back before she had exited the lab. Her curiosity would have be satisfied and she would have been able to either to get on with her work normally or offer her resignation if the truth was too much to handle.

She supposed it was too late now. She had to suffer through not knowing until something else had caught her attention. Sighing for what felt like the thousandth time that day, Amy let her gaze wonder about the deserted hall. It ultimately landed on the unremarkable door that hid all the answers to her questions.

Of course, she could always just go and take a peek. It was nearly three in the morning, and unlikely that anyone would be coming by until around for another five hours. She could be in and out in five minutes no problem. Then her questions would be answered and she could get on with her life.

Chewing her lip, Amy looked around only to be met with the same empty hall. No one ever came through here at this hour. Cautiously, she got to her feet and walked quietly over to the door. Reaching out carefully as though the door would bite her, she carefully turned the knob.

The door opened noiselessly, revealing the same lab she had carelessly explored that night. Slightly disappointed at the lack of anything new, Amy ventured into the room and let the door drift silently close behind her. She quickly set to work scanning the room for what the scientists could have been referring to that night.

After a few moments of searching, Amy huffed and stopped her searching. There was nothing here except the same crazy machines she had seen last time. There was nothing here that could even remotely resemble an alien and certainly nothing, that could be experimented on. She must have really just let her imagination carry her away.

Leaning against a console, Amy tried not to be too disappointed. She supposed it was for the best. What exactly was she supposed to have done if there had been an alien? Make friends with it? She snorted as the old show Mork and Mindy popped into her head. She could have had her own wacky alien best friend.

_All well, I suppose it is for the best._ Laughing at herself, Amy decided it was past time for her to get back. As she stood up, a small click sounded from the console she had been leaning against and the lab was suddenly lit up but bright fluorescent lights.

Amy let out a little eep. _Crap, crap, crap._ She frantically started to press buttons to turn off the lights. Instead, a sudden whirling sound appeared behind her. She turned quickly to see what she had screwed up this time and was frozen, her mouth left hanging.

The sound had been a metal panel that had covered a giant window overlooking and enormous room. This of itself was not so amazing, but the thing lying on the giant table certainly was. The thing was monstrous, stretching watch looked to be nearly eighteen feet and looked like something out of a horror film. It had two arms that ended in sharp, deadly looking claws and its whole body was comprised of sharp angles adding to its dangerous looks.

She was so overwhelmed by the thing that she failed to notice that two ruby red lights set where its face seemed to be that were staring straight at her. When she finally did catch sight of him, any semblance of calm she had been holding onto shattered. Those…_are those things eyes!..._ looked absolutely murderous.

Those eyes held her captive for what felt like an eternity before Amy was able to shake herself out of her trance. On shaky legs, she stumbled backwards until her back hit the door. Frantically searching for the knob, never taking her eyes of the monstrous thing before her, Amy finally managed to get the door open. Only then did she turn her back on the thing as she dashed out the door and did not stop until she got to the bus station that would take her to the safety of her home and far away from the glowing red eyes.

* * *

><p>Barricade onlined suddenly as the lights above him suddenly switched on. He felt his battle systems trying to engage, only to fail miserably, sending a painful shock through him. Grunting soundlessly, Barricade fought through the pain intending to be alert when the scientists started their testing again. It did not seem like enough time had passed since the last bought of tests. Usually Haddix waited at least two solar cycles before beginning another session. It was difficult to tell how much time had passed though, as his chronometer had failed several solar cycles ago.<p>

Onlineing his optics, Barricade tried to figure out how long he had been in recharge, but cast the thought away as a useless endeavor and instead turned his attention to the observation room where the medal cover was lifting from the window. Instead of the smug expression of Haddix or one of his minions as he expected, Barricade was confronted with a human femme that he had never seen before. Immediately on edge on this new addition, Barricade scrounged up all of his energy to cast the deadliest glare at the human he could.

Of which she seemed immune to. The femme just continued to stare at him in what seemed like an awe-struck trance. Barricade wanted to scream with rage. Had really fallen so far from grace that he could not even manage to scare one puny, defenseless femme? Out of sheer frustration, Barricade strengthened his glare, willing the femme to burst in flames from the force of his stare alone. Unfortunately, she did not, she did however, finally meet his eyes.

The little movements that she was making immediately stopped. She held eye contact with him for what seemed like vorns. Barricade began to wonder if he really looked that pathetic when the femme suddenly let out a high-pitched shriek and stumbled out of his line of sight with a terrified look on her face.

Barricade watched with dark amusement as the human femme raced out of the observation room. He normally would not have spent so much energy on a single, weak femme and her fearful reaction, but really, he had to take his entertainment where he could these days. Although he would never admit it, it was refreshing to see a fleshy flee in fear from merely a glare.

Shifting his head back to look at the ceiling, he pondered once again on how low he had fallen as he ignored the shock of pain he felt at the small movement. Pain had become a constant state of being during his imprisonment at the hands of Haddix. The fact that he felt accomplishment at scaring the helpless femme was pathetic.

He glared up at the bright lights that shined above him. The least the femme could have done was shut off the offending lights after she rudely woke him up from recharge. Shifting slightly, he shut off his optics and tried to ignore the lights. At least his late night visitor was not Haddix or one of his Primus-forsaken scientists. Barricade was not sure how much more of their "treatments" he could go through before he would offline for good. As it was, he could barely move his head anymore. He knew that it would not be long before he had to face his end, perhaps just a few more sessions with the good doctor. He scowled but was only able to manage it for a few seconds. He had been so sure that he would find escape, who would have thought he would not be able to out think a few human insects. He could not believe that his death would be so humiliating. The only thing he could hope was neither the Autobots nor Decepticons would discover how he had offlined. He had worked too hard over the millennia constructing his reputation as a hardened and ruthless warrior to be known as a weakling in the end.

Shoving such defeatist thoughts out of his mind, Barricade forced himself to focus his mind on his plans for Haddix and each of his seven scientists if… no _when_ he got out of these restraints. He had already come up with 432 very painful scenarios, but one could never be too prepared.

* * *

><p>Max was the first to enter the lab containing the alien, as usual. He preferred to get here before the others to examine the results of previous tests to track their progress. He squinted in surprise as he saw the lights were on and move at a more cautious pace.<p>

He looked carefully over the lab. Nothing seemed to be missing or terribly out of place. Sometimes it was hard to tell, some of the other scientists were so unorganized. He studied the tables double-checking to make sure that all the prototypes were accounted for before shifting his eyes to the window overlooking the alien.

He frowned when he realized that the cover that should hide the alien from view was currently retracted. However, the creature was still lying on the table as he should be, and nothing in the room seemed to be disturbed.

After a close examination, he could not see anything amiss. Perhaps the scientist who had the last shift just did not close down properly. Max frowned, such laziness could not be tolerated. Then he stopped to consider. The last employee to make such a silly mistake had been handled rather harshly by Haddix. Maybe he should just keep this to himself, as long as it did not happen again; he saw no reason to get someone fired over a simple mistake. Uneasily glancing once more at the alien to make certain he was secure, Max closed the cover of the window and sat at one of the monitor to go over the previous test, all thoughts of the occurrence already far from his mind.


End file.
